June 1582

11 June.
Paris Archives,
K. 1447.

271. The King to J. B. Tassis.
The two Jesuit fathers who spoke to you about the Scotch affair
must have been full of zeal, but the carrying of the matter so far
as they did, and the communication of it to so many persons may
militate greatly against keeping it secret. In order that the affair
may be kept as quiet as possible, if the priest who was to come
hither has not started yet it will be well to detain him. You can
tell him as if on your own account, that to prevent the project
being known it will be better that no action should be taken until
you get a reply from me. You may reply to the duke of Lennox
to the same effect, dealing with the matter in a way that will not
lead them to think we are throwing difficulties in the way for the
purpose of refusing the aid they request, but only in order that it
may be managed on such solid foundations as to ensure its success,
for which we should all strive, as it is so greatly in the interest of
God and the public welfare.—Lisbon, 11th June 1582.

29 June.

272. Bernardino de Mendoza to the King.
I wrote on the 19th by special courier, and I have since heard
that this Queen is warmly promoting, with the consent of the
French, a marriage between Alençon and the daughter of the king
of Sweden. Her age is 14 years, she is good looking, of dark
complexion, and has been brought up a Catholic. Alençon asks
for no other dowry but that the Princess should be sent to the
Netherlands at their cost, and that any money which would have
been given to her should be employed in gaining over German
princes to his side, whilst Denmark and Muscovy should be on the
look out in order that he may be supported by a fleet in Holland
and Friesland, if your Majesty should attempt to conquer those
provinces by sea. I understand that the Queen is negotiating this
business with the utmost secrecy, as she wishes to have it well
advanced before Alençon sends ambassadors. In order to facilitate
matters, they are both offering to help the king of Sweden in his
election as king of Poland, the present King having no hope of
succession ; and Alençon promises, by means of his mother, to win
over the Palatines of Poland, with whom the king of Scotland is in
alliance. The plan is to make a new treaty between the kings of
Sweden, Poland, and Denmark, which this Queen and Alençon
undertake to bring about. On this foundation, the principal aim
of which is to maintain Alençon in the Netherlands, they build
great hopes, and the Queen thinks also that by this marriage she
will have as firm a hold over Alençon as if she herself married him.
It is true that there are many difficulties in the way of reconciling and
uniting these three monarchs, but Alençon will be a good match for
the king of Sweden's daughter, and doubtless Alençon will not
refuse, so that both this and its effect on the affairs of the Netherlands
will necessarily produce evil results to your Majesty's interests.
To obviate and retard the matter as much as possible, having no
other means and delay being prejudicial, I have been obliged to
make use of Baron Gaspar Schomberg. He is now in France, but
I have written to him about it, telling him to represent that,
although it may appear at first sight advantageous for Alençon to
marry the king of Sweden's daughter, yet when the affair is considered,
it will be seen to be fruitful of great danger for the kingdom
of Poland, and that the close friendship between the two crowns
(i.e. France and Poland) would thereby necessarily become relaxed.
I remind him of points we have discussed together, and say that,
as he was going to Poland, it would be well for him at once to
influence the Palatine Lasqui and other of his friends to obstruct
the project, pending his arrival there, when he could tell them
verbally how unstable a foundation were this Queen and Alençon
upon which to rear a permanent edifice.
By Schomberg's sincerity and straightforwardness with me, and
his devotion to your Majesty, I am convinced that he will do his best,
and will give your Majesty time if you consider desirable to take
other steps. As, however, no suspicion can exist with regard to
Schomberg's faithfulness, and his first steps may be efficacious, I have
given him a cipher to correspond with me, if your Majesty should
think fit to employ him, either in the matter of the trade with
the Northern countries or this affair of Sweden.—London, 29th June
1582.

273. Bernardino de Mendoza to the King.
In addition to the letter written by Alençon to the Queen asking
for money, mentioned in my former letters, he has again written to
the same effect, and as he sees that his efforts are fruitless, he is
complaining of Marchaumont who, he says, does not know how to
negotiate, and as soon as he has relieved Oudenarde he will come
over himself to settle his affairs and arrange the regular subsidy
that this Queen is to give him. He says the Queen is not to be
told of this, as he wishes it to be kept secret, and to take the
opportunity which she has offered him by writing to say that she
wished to see him and inviting him to return. The Queen has not
decided anything of importance with regard to him, but is awaiting
the result of the second embassy she is sending back to Alençon by
Belièvre. Englishmen are daily slipping over to Flanders, and are
being lodged at St. Bernard near Antwerp, awaiting arms and money.
Those who were brought from Friesland for the relief of Oudenarde
would go no further when they were landed opposite Flushing
until they were paid what was owing to them. The reason why
Alençon arrested the Chevalier Breton was because he had advised
the Baron Viteaux, an enemy of Fervaques, that the latter was
going to raise troops in France, and he could revenge himself by
killing him on the road. Alençon wrote about it to his brother,
complaining bitterly and asking that the Baron should be taken and
punished. I understand that the king of France let the Baron know,
and he thereupon took measures to prevent any trick being played
upon him by Alençon.
Some of the ministers in Scotland have been preaching against
d'Aubigny, and the King being offended thereat twenty of them
fled to Berwick, the Queen being informed of this by the man who
I said had arrived secretly at Leicester's house. She feared that it
might be some stratagem and ordered that they should be taken to
the neighbouring villages inland. I am told also that they are
discussing a marriage between the king of Scotland and the sister
of the prince of Bearn, (fn. 1) which was being negotiated by de la Roche,
who is a creature of the duke of Guise, and this makes it the more
suspicious.
News comes from Ireland that 600 Irishmen, who were in the
Queen's pay, have been dismissed by the Viceroy without payment
of the wages owing to them. They have therefore gone over to
the Catholic insurgents, and have sent a defiance to the Viceroy.
At the instance of Leicester fresh charges have been brought
against the earl of Kildare. His business has therefore been again
under discussion, and it is believed that his imprisonment will be
prolonged more than was expected.
News comes that the ships of the king of Denmark had sunk
the English ship "Mignon" on her way to Muscovy. The Queen
instantly ordered the arming of two fresh ships to accompany those
that were going to Muscovy. These are the ships that I wrote were
going to plunder on their way to the Indies, the captain of them
being a son (?) of Walsingham.
The eldest son of the earl of Hertford, who is one of the
pretenders to the crown, has made a love match with a lady of
much lower quality than himself. (fn. 2) He escaped for the purpose
from a castle where his father was keeping him to divert him from
his courtship, and was hidden for ten or twelve days, during which
period there was a great outcry that he had fled the kingdom.
The Queen has ordered him, and the gentleman in whose house he
was married, to be arrested.—London, 29th June 1582.

Footnotes

1. Castelnau de la Mauvissière, the French ambassador, writing to his King on the
25th June, mentions this project of marrying James VI. to Catharine de Bourbon, and
that Lord Willoughby D'Eresby son of the duchess of Suffolk is being sent to Henry of
Navarre by the Queen. Castelnau says that the intention is simply to "amuse" the
king of Navarre on the point, as the Queen dreads nothing so much as that the prince of
Scotland should be married into any family which might afford him aid as he is full of
ambition.

2. Lord Beauchamp had married Miss Honora Rogers. The gentleman in question
appears to have been Mr. Thomas Howard. See Cal. Dom. 1st July 1582.